British journalist working for Channel 4, Asad Qureshi, was freed after being held hostage by the Taliban in Pakistan for five months. Qureshi was filming a documentary about militancy in Pakistan for Channel 4 in North Warizistan before he was abducted on charges of spying.
Blogger, author and founder of Bahrain’s BahrainOnline forum, Ali Abdulemam was arrested on 4 September by Bahraini authorities for allegedly spreading “false news” on the BahrainOnline.org portal. On the afternoon of 5 September, BahrainOnline was shut down for good, by the authorities. A crackdown on media began in Bahrain on 13 August.
Iraqi television presenter, Riad al-Saray was shot today as he was leaving his home in Baghdad by unknown gunmen. He presented religious and political programmes on al-Iraqiya TV. Reporters Without Borders have called the attack a “targeted murder”.
A free speech defender and lawyer who has represented imprisoned journalists, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was arrested on 5 September on charges of anti-government propaganda and conspiring against the regime after responding to a summons from a revolutionary court prosecutor’s office located inside Tehran’s Evin prison. She has defended political prisoners such as journalists Issa Saharkhiz and Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand.